Catonsville area school a Lighthouse school

Edmondson Heights Elementary School will be among the first in Baltimore County to pilot the county school system's instructional digital conversion (IDC), a multi-year initiative centered on shifting teaching and learning through the integration of technology.

The Catonsville area school is one of 10 in the county designated as "Lighthouse" elementary schools.

Lighthouse schools will be the first in the school system to receive individual digital learning devices for students; implement one-to-one personalized and blended learning; and create an innovative, comprehensive digital learning culture.

"By embracing this exciting initiative, the principals of these schools, their staffs and their school communities become instant innovators, creators and learners in the future of education," said Superintendent Dallas Dance, in a release. "As our digital learning pioneers, they will show all of us how the schools and classrooms of tomorrow — and the educators in each of them — will ensure that each child is ready for the 21st-century world that awaits them."

The other nine Lighthouse schools are:

• Chase Elementary

• Church Lane Elementary

• Fort Garrison Elementary

• Halstead Elementary

• Hawthorne Elementary

• Joppa View Elementary

• Lansdowne Elementary

• Rodgers Forge Elementary

• The new school being built in the Mays Chapel area

The schools were identified through a process that began earlier in the school year when principals were asked if they were interested in the pilot.

Once interest was determined, school instructional staff members were surveyed about their level of commitment.

Schools with high levels of staff interest and commitment were asked to complete an application, which were reviewed and approved by a special instructional digital conversion committee.

The conversion, which Dance introduced as a system priority last spring during his 2012 State of the Schools address, calls for a fundamental shift in teaching and learning.

The conversion involves curriculum development, technology upgrades and professional development as well as ongoing changes to policies and procedures in order to reach standards ensuring a 21st-century, technology-driven environment in each classroom.